in The Golden Age, or The Lives of Jupiter and Saturn — Heywood, Thomas
Metadata
Play
The Golden Age, or The Lives of Jupiter and Saturn
Author
Heywood, Thomas
Year (catalogued)
1611
First performance
1610
Decade
1610s
Genre
Classical Myth
Play type
Adult Professional
Company
Queen Anne's Men
Theater
Red Bull;Outdoor Professional
Speech prefix(es)
Vesta. | Vest. | Uesta. | Uest.
Words
430
Characters
2357
Typicality
0.25 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP id
A03205
BritDrama no.
1637
Cluster
Cluster 20 — Conjurers, witches & physicians
Important excerpts
No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).
Full speech
The Cretan people, with shrill acclamations Pronounce thee sovereign over their lands and lives, Let Titan storm, and threaten strange revenge, We are resolved thy honour to maintain. Arm Lords, I hear the voice Of Titan storming at this strange election. Saturn here shall stand, Immovable; upheld by Vesta's hand. Ey but youngest in brain. Saturn the crown hath ceased, and he shall reign. Your Queens delivered. She's the sad mother of a second son. The boy must die. Fobeare sir, for this place is privileged, And only for free women. Come little knave, prepare your naked throat, I have not heart to give thee many wounds, My kindness is to take thy life at once. (Now.) Alack my pretty Grandchild, smilest thou still? I have lust to kiss, but have no heart to kill. Ne shall he do, but swear me secrecy, The babe shall live, and we be dangerless, Attend me. The king of Epires daughters, two bright maids, Owe me for many favours the Like love, These I dare trust, to them I'll send this babe To be brought up, but not as Satur's son. Do but provide some trusty messenger, My honour for his safety. The blood and heart I'll presently provide, T'appease the rage of Saturn. We will, and if this plot pass undiscovered By Like devise we will save all your sons. About our tasks; you some choice friend to find, I with my feigned tears the King to blind. Ah, did but Saturn see you smiling babe, Hee'd give it life, and break ten thousand oaths Rather then suffer the sweet infant die, His very look would beg a quick reprieve Even of the tyrant Titan saw the uncle With what a graceful look the Infant smiles, Hee'd give it life, although he purchased it with lose of a great Kingdom. Worse then a bruit, for bruits preserve their own Worse then the worst of things is Saturn grown. O let's not lose the mother with her infant, The lose of one's too much. A young Kids heart, swimming in reeking blood We'll send the King, and with such forged grief, And counterfeit sorrow shadow it, That this imposture never shall be found. Saturn adviseth well, list to his consell. Titan, your brother offers royally, Accept his love. Sweet son. Tyrant, I will. Tigers would save whom Saturn means to kill, Then give him me, I am his Grandmother, And I will kill him gently: this sad office Belongs to me, as to the next of kin. Vesta will be that joyful messenger.
Plot summary
Plot — The Golden Age, or The Lives of Jupiter and Saturn
King Uranus of Crete is dead. Titan is the eldest son, but his younger brother Saturn is the popular choice to ascend the throne. Titan agrees to make way for him provided that he agrees to settle the succession on Titan’s issue and kill his own sons as soon as they are born. Saturn is declared a god, and under his benevolent rule, the people learn agriculture, ship- building, and architecture, and begin to make weapons for hunting. His wife, Sibylla, becomes pregnant, but Saturn keeps his promise to Titan and kills the baby. During a second pregnancy, an oracle foretells that the child will depose Saturn. This time Sibylla demands the privilege of killing her own child; but neither she nor her women can bring themselves to do it, so the baby is sent to a foster mother, the Princess of Epirus, and Saturn is deceived with the blood of a goat. Jupiter grows up in the court of King Melisseus of Epirus, and is sent as an envoy to conclude a peace with King Lycaon of Pelasgia; but Lycaon has murdered the Epirote hostage and offers his limbs to Jupiter as a cannibalistic banquet. Jupiter deposes Lycaon and the people elect him their King. During the conflict, he encounters Callisto, Lycaon’s daughter, and is attracted to her. She asks him to grant her a boon to prove his love; he promises, but her request is to live a chaste life as a nymph of Diana. She joins Diana, but the nymphs are already paired off, so she must await the next recruit to have a bedfellow. This turns out to be Jupiter in female disguise. During a stag hunt, he diverts her, reveals his identity and rapes her. Months later, the nymphs undress to bathe together; Callisto is reluctant, and is forcibly stripped. She is found to be pregnant. and expelled from the order. Titan learns that Saturn’s sons are alive, and marches on Crete to seize the throne. Saturn learns that Sibylla has deceived him, and sends to Jupiter for help. Meanwhile, Jupiter is curious about his parentage. He meets Callisto, pursued by their son Archas, whom she has brought up among beasts in a remote cave. Saturn’s ===== PAGE 135 ===== 1611 message arrives, confirming Jupiter’s origins, and he goes to Crete, leaving Archas as King in his stead. Meanwhile Titan and his sons have taken Saturn prisoner. Jupiter frees them after defeating Titan in battle, and is granted his sister, Juno, in marriage. Saturn worries about the oracle, and attempts to kill Jupiter, but the plot backfires: Saturn is deposed and sent into exile, and…